We stopped at El Mexicano in Payson on Saturday for lunch and enjoyed lunch on Sunday on the way home

Saturday morning, we drove 2 hours north to a new campsite along the Mogollon Rim. We picked the site from my trusty book. This was my 3rd trip to the rim. We’ve stayed Black Canyon Rim, Crook Campground, Woods Canyon Lake Group site and this time FR 9350. For me, this was the best one simply because we could walk in ten minutes from the rear of our tent through woods to the rim without crossing any road or campsite.

The dramatic rise of the Mogollon Rim produces a sudden uplift to approaching storms resulting in a high incidence of lightning strikes during the summer, creating an active fire season from May to July.

Mogollon Rim is the site of frequent lightning strikes. If you plan to visit in the summer, be cautious. We stopped for a long while watching common blackhawks, easily 13 or 14 circling on the draft created by the rim. If you happen to see them, listen for them to scold you when you hike, because they do and they will!

Assortment of shots, showing the divebombing behavior (top row, center & right), the deep wingbeats (bottom row, left & center), & the typical Black Vulture-like soaring flight: They are losing their habitat, the Mogollon Rim is one of the few they have left.

My favorite gift is a new place to see, so we drove down the steep road to the park (14% grade, make sure your brakes work!)

We used the brakes all the way down, it was steep, windy and did I mention steep?

And discovered a jewel of a park, green grass, shady trees, soaring rock walls all around. The boys were too tired to take on a challenge, so we did an easy 10 minute hike to a waterfall.

and another short walk to the observation deck of the natural bridge. It is believed to be the largest natural travertine bridge in the world. The bridge stands 183 feet high over a 400-foot long tunnel that measures 150 feet at its widest point. There are three hiking trails, a picnic area, and a group use area. My pictures of the park are not very good. This page gives a good idea of what you can expect to find if you visit the park. Park admission was $5.00 per adult and $2.00 for children 7 and up.

My pictures are terrible, but your take away from this shot is that if you walk to observation point 3 and 4, you can see 1) stand on the natural bridge and 2) see the bridge and enjoy the view. It is tremendous and worth the price of admission. It would be easy to spend a nice day here hiking and picnicking.

My pictures are terrible, so please multiply this time 1000. If you look to the right from this vantage point and crane your neck a bit you can see into the chasm below the bridge. It is deep and has a score of happy hikers scrambling through the chasm below the bridge, behind a curtain of a waterfall. Lovely.

Thanks for enjoying my birthday weekend with me. I hope it inspires you to get out and enjoy a beautiful place. Where would you like to go for your birthday, if you could have any kind of day you like?